Calexico Mayor and Police Chief Discuss Border at White House

Local officials met with DHS Secretary Napolitano on jobs and public safety Washington, D.C. – Today, Mayor Luis J. Castro and Chief James Neujahr met with senior Administration officials – including an hour-long discussion with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in the White House – to talk about enhancing public safety [...]

Local officials met with DHS Secretary Napolitano on jobs and public safety

Washington, D.C. – Today, Mayor Luis J. Castro and Chief James Neujahr met with senior Administration officials – including an hour-long discussion with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in the White House – to talk about enhancing public safety and economic development in the U.S.-Mexico border region.

Castro and Neujahr, along with Economic Development Specialist Julia Osuna, joined a delegation of border sheriffs, police chiefs, and other officials from the Southwest who traveled to share their on-the-ground perspectives, successes lowering crime rates in their communities, and ideas on how to overcome existing challenges. In addition to Secretary Napolitano, the group met with Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin and representatives from the National Economic Council, the Domestic Policy Council, the Office of Public Engagement, the Department of State, and the Department of Commerce.

In the morning, they also discussed the urgent need for Congress to appropriate more money for local law enforcement jobs. Additional funding is sorely needed in Calexico, where Neujahr recently had to cut 25 positions because of reduced cross-border commerce. President Obama’s American Jobs Act would address this need by allocating $5 billion for state and local law enforcement and first responders, creating 40,000 new law enforcement jobs around the country and mandating expedited hiring through the Department of Justice’s COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) Program.